Orioles right-hander Alex Cobb made the shortest start of his seven-year career after reopening a cut on his pitching hand during Sunday’s game against the Yankees. In the first inning, he worked a 2-2 count on four pitches to Andrew McCutchen, then made a prompt exit from the field after taking a closer look at his right index finger.

This isn’t the first time Cobb has dealt with blisters on his pitching hand; in fact, it marks the second consecutive outing in which he’s been prematurely pulled from the mound after reaggravating the injury. By Sunday’s start, the 30-year-old righty had already lost three weeks of the season to the same issue, though the Orioles appeared confident in his ability to make another appearance after watching him successfully complete two bullpens last week. He entered the game with a 5-15 record in 27 starts and a career-worst 4.90 ERA, 2.5 BB/9, and 6.0 SO/9 across 152 1/3 innings. At this point, it’s highly unlikely that he’ll get another opportunity to pitch in the majors before the end of the year.

Following Cobb’s departure in the first inning, reliever Mike Wright Jr. was tabbed to fill in for the righty. His performance yielded disappointing results as well: After kicking off the inning with three back-to-back walks, he allowed three runs on a Gleyber Torres sac fly and a pair of RBI singles from Miguel Andujar and Gary Sanchez. The Orioles currently trail the Yankees 3-1 in the fourth as they look to avoid a franchise-worst 111th loss.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher has reversed course and will continue to pay minor leaguers. Fisher tells Slusser, “I concluded I made a mistake.” He said he is also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees.

The A’s decided in late May to stop paying paying minor leaguers as of June 1, which was the earliest date on which any club could do so after an MLB-wide agreement to pay minor leaguers through May 31 expired. In the event, the A’s were the only team to stop paying the $400/week stipends to players before the end of June. Some teams, notable the Royals and Twins, promised to keep the payments up through August 31, which is when the minor league season would’ve ended. The Washington Nationals decided to lop off $100 of the stipends last week but, after a day’s worth of blowback from the media and fans, reversed course themselves.

An @sfchronicle exclusive: A's owner John Fisher reverses course, apologizes: team will pay minor-leaguers; "I concluded I made a mistake," he tells me. He's also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees: https://t.co/8HUBkFAaBx)